John 19:17-30 * April 9, 2004 * Good Friday * Vicar Caauwe

"Jesus, I will ponder now, on your holy passion. With your spirit me endow for such meditation. Grant that I in love and faith may the image cherish of your sufferings, pain and death, that I may not perish."

These words have been ringing in my head since we sang them as the opening hymn on Ash Wednesday. They were with me as I viewed the movie The Passion of the Christ. They were with me as I have read the accounts of Jesus' suffering and death.

Now six weeks have passed—forty days, not counting the Sundays. Today we reach the final day of our meditation on the passion of Jesus Christ. We've seen the personalities of the passion--and learned all kinds of valuable lessons from them. We have seen all the people, the events, everything that has led up to this point, this point when we stand at the foot of the cross.

Today we stand at the foot of the cross and consider what this means, that the sinless Son of God is crucified. We stand at the foot of the cross on this day and consider above all,

THE PURPOSE OF THE PASSION

We know the answer to that question, don't we? We know why Jesus suffered and died—that's why we're here. But as we look at the words before us, let us consider again the purpose of the passion. Let's take a look at some of the others standing at the foot of the cross. Let's hear from Jesus himself what the purpose was. Then let us consider again, for ourselves the purpose of our own observance of the passion of our Lord.

Many people accompanied Jesus to the hill outside Jerusalem, where he was to be crucified. The soldiers were his official escorts. We are told that John and Jesus' mother Mary were also present, together with some others. There were also others there that were present not because it was their job, or because they were mourning what was happening to Jesus.

The "chief priests of the Jews" had apparently followed to make sure that what they had started was carried on to completion. They wanted to make sure Jesus was killed. But something was wrong. "Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews."(19-21)

For these chief priests, this sign defeated the purpose of putting Jesus to death. It gave the impression that Jesus really was who he claimed to be. Their objection to Pilate's sign shows what they thought was the purpose of the passion. In their mind, the purpose of the passion was to make it clear that what Jesus said was not true.

Jesus said he was sent by God. Jesus said he was the Son of God. Jesus said that he was the prophet who was to come into the world. Jesus said that he was the true priest who was the only way to the Father. Jesus said that he was the King of the Jews, whose rule would never end.

But because he hung on the cross, weakened, beaten, and bloodied; he could not be who he said he was. So do not say "King of the Jews" but say he claimed to be king of the Jews.

This was not a new lie. Satan has been using this same lie since the beginning. You remember what the serpent said to Eve in the garden? First he asked, "Did God really say you must not eat of the fruit?"(Genesis 3:1) Eve correctly responded: "Yes, that is what he said." "O.K., maybe that is what he said, but what he meant was..." Can't you hear Satan saying, "Don't say "you will surely die" instead, say "God claims that you will die.'"

Perhaps you have seen some of the television specials regarding the last days of Jesus. They even aired one such show for the second time this past week. And they talk to "scholars" and "experts" who have studied the passion of Jesus Christ and what do they say? "Well, that may be what the Bible says, but we know that the Bible isn't historically accurate. So don't say Jesus died at the hands of his own people; don't say Jesus actually suffered hell; don't say Jesus was actually suffering for the sins of all people of all time. Instead say that's what the people of the time wanted to believe. Don't say he was the King of the Jews. Instead say that this man claimed to be the king of the Jews."

On the one hand, you had the chief priests who externally were very concerned with the Word of God and yet tried to deny it. On the other hand you had the soldiers, who probably didn't even know what the Word of God was. "When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. "Let's not tear it,' they said to one another. 'Let's decide by lot who will get it.'"(23,24) For the soldiers, torture and execution was an occupation. For them Jesus' passion was nothing more than a job. They weren't concerned with who Jesus claimed to be, or what the Scriptures said about him. As we can see, their purpose for the passion was doing their job, and while they were at it, they looked for what they might get out of the deal: some cloth worth taking home, and an undergarment worth gambling for.

Neither the soldiers nor the chief priests were particularly interested in God's Word. They had different ideas, different agendas. Yet what happened was exactly what the Scriptures said. Psalm 22, which we heard moments ago, speaks of this day. It speaks of the rejection of the Messiah when it says "But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people."(Psalm 22:6) John also quotes this psalm, "This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, 'They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.'"(24) Though they thought Jesus died so that his Word would be discredited or so that he would not cause any more trouble, the purpose of the passion was that Scripture would be fulfilled.

Jesus knew that Scripture must be fulfilled. Just hours earlier, Jesus told Pilate, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world, to testify to the truth."(John 18:37) Scripture is truth, and Jesus had come to fulfill it. He had come to fulfill the promise made to the first sinners, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel."(Genesis 3:15) He had come to fulfill that promise that was passed on by the patriarchs and proclaimed by the prophets. He had come to live a life that was perfectly in line with God's will in the place of those who didn't. He had come to suffer hell in the place of those should have. He had come to fulfill the Scriptures by his passion.

And so we read, "Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, 'I am thirsty.' A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of a hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, 'It is finished.' With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." (28-30)

With the words, "It is finished," Jesus declared to the world that the Scripture had been fulfilled. Everything God had promised to bring salvation to mankind was done, finished, completed, fulfilled.

But there's more. If the purpose of the passion is that Scripture be fulfilled, then the reason we observe and meditate upon that passion almost 2000 years later is so that we may KNOW that Scripture has been fulfilled.

You see, when we stand at the cross and see in our mind's eye the blood and gore, when we listen to Jesus' words from the cross, we don't come to the conclusion the Jews did—that because Jesus is on the cross his Word can't be true. Rather we know that by Jesus' death, his Word is fulfilled.

Satan says, "you will not surely die." But when we see Christ hanging from the tree we remember from Scripture that the soul that sins will die. We remember that the wages of sin is death. The purpose of the passion is that Scripture be fulfilled—the Scriptures that tell us very clearly that sin does not go unpunished. They tell us that each sin, each thought, each word, each action that disobeys the will of God is worthy of death.

When we hear Christ call out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34) we remember that suffering in hell, abandonment by the Creator of all is the only suitable punishment for our wickedness. The passion of Jesus Christ is a witness to us that the Scripture has been fulfilled. God in his justice threatened punishment for all who disobey. God in his justice carried out punishment for every act of disobedience upon his perfectly obedient Son.

But when we hear Christ call out, "It is finished" we understand that though sin and wickedness has been punished, we were not nor ever will be punished. "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed."(Isaiah 53:5) Scripture has been fulfilled.

So when we consider the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us ever understand that the purpose of the passion is that Scripture has been fulfilled. When we see the cross of Christ, let us know that God is serious about sin and let us also know that he is just as serious about our salvation. When we receive his true body and blood, given and poured out for us for the forgiveness of sins, let it ever be for us the pledge and seal that all Scripture has been fulfilled.

And as we leave this place let us also know that one more promise awaits us. Just as certainly as Jesus Christ fulfilled the Scripture by his passion, on Easter Sunday he will not leave his Word unfulfilled. And just as certainly as Jesus Christ fulfilled Scripture by his death, at your death he will not leave his Word unfulfilled.

The words keep ringing in my mind...

If my sins give me alarm and my conscience grieve me, let your cross my fear disarm; peace of conscience give me. Help me see forgiveness won by your holy passion. If for me he slays his Son, God must have compassion.